Chapter VI: , where specimens of this kind of work are (2)

(From Olivers Stanway, at one time the seat of the Eldred family.)]

In the page of Jacobean chairs showing the various styles, the more severe piece, dated 1623, is Early Jacobean, and the fine unrestored armchair of slightly later date shows in the stretcher the wear given by the feet of the sitters. It is an interesting piece; the stiles in the back are inlaid with pearwood and ebony. The other armchair with its cane panels in back is of later Stuart days. It shows the transitional stage between the scrolled-arm type of chair, wholly of wood, and the more elaborate type (illustrated p. 123) of the James II. period.

Yorkshire, about 1640.

Derbyshire; early seventeenth century.

(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]

JACOBEAN OAK CUPBOARD. ABOUT 1620.]

In addition to the finer pieces of seventeenth-century furniture to be found in the seats of the nobility, such as at Penshurst, or in the manor houses and homes of the squires and smaller landowners, there was much furniture of a particularly good design in use at farmsteads from one end of the country to the other, in days when a prosperous class of yeoman followed the tastes of their richer neighbours. This farmhouse furniture is nowadays much sought after. It was of local manufacture, and is distinctly English in its character. Oak dressers either plain or carved, were made not only in Wales--"Welsh Dressers" having become almost a trade term--but in various parts of England, in Yorkshire, in Derbyshire, in Sussex, and in Suffolk. They are usually fitted with two or three open shelves, and sometimes with cupboards on each side. The better preserved specimens have still their old drop-handles and hinges of brass. It is not easy to procure fine examples nowadays, as it became fashionable two or three years ago to collect these, and in addition to oak dressers from the farmhouses of Normandy, equally old and quaint, which were imported to supply a popular demand, a great number of modern imitations were made up from old wood--church pews largely forming the framework of the dressers, which were not difficult to imitate successfully.

The particular form of chair known as the "Yorkshire chair" is of the same period. Certain localities seem to have produced peculiar types of chairs which local makers made in great numbers. It will be noticed that even in these conditions, with a continuous manufacture going on, the patterns were not exact duplicates of each other, as are the machine-made chairs turned out of a modern factory, where the maker has no opportunity to introduce any personal touches, but has to obey the iron law of his machine.

As a passing hint to collectors of old oak furniture, it may be observed that it very rarely happens that two chairs can be found together of the same design. There may be a great similarity of ornament and a particularly striking resemblance, but the chair with its twin companion beside it suggests that one, if not both, are spurious. The same peculiarity is exhibited in old brass candlesticks, and especially the old Dutch brass with circular platform in middle of candlestick. One may handle fifty without finding two that are turned with precisely the same form of ornament.

The usual feature of the chair which is termed "Yorkshire" is that it has an open back in the form of an arcade, or a back formed with two crescent-shaped cross-rails, the decorations of the back usually bearing acorn-shaped knobs either at the top of the rail or as pendants. This type is not confined to Yorkshire, as they have frequently been found in Derbyshire, in Oxfordshire, and in Worcestershire, and a similar variety may be found in old farmhouses in East Anglia.

In the illustration of the two oak chairs (p. 105), the one with arms is of the Charles I. period, the other is later and belongs to the latter half of the seventeenth century.

The Jacobean oak cupboard (illustrated p. 101) is in date about 1620. At the side there are perforations to admit air, which shows that it was used as a butter cupboard. The doors have an incised decoration of conventional design. The lower part is carved in style unmistakably Jacobean in nature. The pattern on the two uprights at the top is repeatedly found in pieces evidently designed locally for use in farmhouses.

It is not too much to hope that enough has been said concerning Jacobean furniture of the early and middle seventeenth century to show that it possesses a peculiar charm and simplicity in the lines of its construction, which make it a very pleasing study to the earnest collector who wishes to procure a few genuine specimens of old furniture, which, while being excellent in artistic feeling, are not unprocurable by reason of their rarity and excessive cost. It should be within the power of the careful collector, after following the hints in this volume, and after examining well-selected examples in such a collection as that at the Victoria and Albert Museum, to obtain, without unreasonable expenditure, after patient search, one or two Jacobean pieces of undoubted authenticity.

JACOBEAN OAK CHAIRS.

Armchair, time of Charles I.

Yorkshire chair. Late seventeenth century.]

RECENT SALE PRICES.[1]

L s. d.
Cabinet, Jacobean oak, with two drawers, and folding doors
below enclosing drawers, decorated with rectangular
panels in relief, inlaid in ebony and ivory, and with
baluster columns at the side--48 in. high, 46 in. wide.
Christie, November 27, 1903 44 2 0

Cabinet, Jacobean black oak, 5 ft. wide by 6 ft. 2 in. high,
fitted with cupboards above and below, with sunk
panelled folding doors, carved with busts of warriors in
high relief, the pilasters carved with mask heads and
caryatid figures, the whole carved with floral scrolls
and other devices. Capes, Dunn & Pilcher, Manchester,
December 9, 1903 57 0 0

Chairs, set of three Jacobean oak, with canework seats, and
panels in the backs, the borders carved with scrolls,
and on scroll legs with stretchers. Christie, January
29, 1904 52 10 0

Table, Cromwell, oak, on spiral legs. Dowell, Edinburgh,
March 12, 1904 11 0 6

Elbow-chair, oak, Scotch, back having carved wheel, "A. R.,
1663." Dowell, Edinburgh, March 12, 1904 60 18 0

Cabinet, Jacobean oak, with drawer and folding doors below,
with moulded rectangular panels and balusters in relief,
50 in. high, 46 in. wide. Christie, July 1, 1904 35 14 0

[1] By the kindness of the proprietors of the _Connoisseur_ these items are given from their useful monthly publication, _Auction Sale Prices_.

CARVED OAK; WITH LETTERS G. B. M. B. DATED 1641.

(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]

IV

STUART OR JACOBEAN.

LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

INTERIOR OF DUTCH HOUSE.

LATTER HALF OF SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.]

IV

STUART OR JACOBEAN. LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

Charles II. 1660-1685.
James II. 1685-1688.
William and Mary. 1689-1694.
William 1694-1702.

Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723).
Grinling Gibbons (1648-1726).

1660. Bombay became a British possession. Importation of
Indo-Portuguese furniture.

1666. Great Fire in London. Much valuable furniture destroyed.

1675-1710. St. Paul's Cathedral built under Wren's direction.

1685. Edict of Nantes revoked. Spitalfields' silk industry
founded by French refugees.

CABINET OF THE TIME OF CHARLES II.

With exterior finely decorated with needlework.]

After the Civil War, when Charles II. came into his own again, the furniture of the Restoration period most certainly took its colour from the gay Court with which the Merry Monarch surrounded himself. The cabinet which we reproduce has the royal arms embroidered on the cover, and is a beautiful example of intricate cabinetmaking. The surface of the piece is entirely covered with needlework. On the front stand a cavalier and lady, hand-in-hand. On the side panel a cavalier is leading a lady on horseback. On the back a man drives a laden camel, and on another panel is shown the traveller being received by an old man in the grounds of the same castle which appears all through the scenes. This suggests the love-story of some cavalier and his lady. The casket is worthy to have held the love-letters of the Chevalier Grammont to La Belle Hamilton.

CABINET OF THE TIME OF CHARLES II.

Showing interior and nest of drawers.]

As is usual in pieces of this nature, the cabinet contains many artfully devised hiding places. A tiny spring behind the lock reveals one secret drawer, and another is hidden beneath the inkwell. There are in all five of such secret compartments--or rather five of them have been at present discovered--there may be more. The illustration of the cabinet open shows what a nest of drawers it holds.

In the days of plots, when Titus Oates set half the nation by the ears, when James solemnly warned the merry Charles of plots against his life, provoking the cynical retort, "They will never kill me, James, to make you king," secret drawers were no doubt a necessity to a fashionable cabinet.

Catherine of Braganza, his queen, brought with her from Portugal many sumptuous fashions in furniture, notably cabinets and chairs of Spanish and Portuguese workmanship. The cavaliers scattered by the Civil War returned, and as in their enforced exile on the Continent they had cultivated foreign tastes, it was only natural that Dutch, French, and Italian work found its way to this country and effected the character of the early furniture of the Charles II. period. From Portugal came the high-backed chair, having the back and the seat of leather cut with fine design, and coloured or gilded. This leather work is of exquisite character, and we reproduce a portion of a Portuguese chair-back of this period to show the artistic excellence of the design. With Catherine of Braganza came the marriage dower of Bombay, and from India, where the settlement of Goa had been Portuguese for centuries, were sent to Europe the carved chairs in ebony, inlaid in ivory, made by the native workmen from Portuguese and Italian models, but enriched with pierced carving and intricate inlay of ivory in a manner which only an Oriental craftsman can produce. Having become fashionable in Portugal, they made their appearance in England, and rapidly became popular. At Penshurst Place there are several fine specimens of this Indo-Portuguese work, with the spindles of the chair-backs of carved ivory; and in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford there is the well-known chair which was presented by Charles II. to Elias Ashmole.

PORTUGUESE HIGH-BACK CHAIR.

Seat and back formed of two panels of old stamped leather, studded with brass bosses.]

Both in this later Stuart period and in the days of the first Charles inlay was considerably used to heighten the carved designs on oak tables, chairs, and cabinets. The growth of commerce was responsible for the introduction of many varieties of foreign woods, which were used to produce finer effects in marquetry than the rude inlay of Elizabethan days.

The Frontispiece to this volume represents a very handsome cabinet of English workmanship, inlaid with ivory and mother-of-pearl. It is an unusually fine example of the middle seventeenth century, and bears the date 1653, the year when Cromwell forcibly dissolved the Rump Parliament and was declared "Lord Protector of the Commonwealth."

Up till now oak--the hard, tough, English variety, and not the more modern Baltic oak or American varieties now used--was the material for the tool of the carver to work upon. With the introduction of more flowing lines and curves, a wealth of detail, it is not unnatural to find that softer woods began to find favour as more suitable to the new decorations. The age of walnut was approaching when, under William the Dutchman, and in the days of Queen Anne, a newer style of furniture was to arise, made by craftsmen trained in the precepts of Grinling Gibbons and following the conceptions of Sir Christopher Wren. It must be borne in mind that in Italy the softer woods, such as lime, willow, sycamore, chestnut, walnut, and cypress, had long been used for the delicate carving during the height of the Renaissance and succeeding period, and in France and Spain chestnut and walnut were favourite woods.

In the central panel of the Restoration chair-back, canework began to be used instead of the Early Jacobean carving. Cane seats were frequent, and loose cushions, attached by means of strings, covered these cane panels and seats. The illustration (p. 122) shows a Jacobean chair of this period.

OAK CHEST OF DRAWERS. LATE JACOBEAN.

(Height, 3 ft. 3 in.; width, 3 ft.; depth, 1 ft. 10 in.)]

Belonging to these later Jacobean days are chests of drawers of oak with finely panelled fronts. We illustrate two specimens, showing the old brass metal work and the drop-handles. They are usually in two parts, and are very deep from back to front. These are two typical examples of this kind of furniture, which was in general use up to the days of Queen Anne, when pieces are frequently found supported on a stand.

In the picture by Caspar Netscher, showing a Dutch lady at her toilet, a good idea is conveyed of the kind of chair in use in Holland in the latter half of the seventeenth century, upholstered in brocade, and the rich tapestry tablecloth is a noticeable feature.

Before entering upon the last phase of Stuart furniture, and leaving the days of Jacobean oak with its fine carving and handsome appearance--the careful result of selecting the timber and splitting it to show the fine figure of the wood--the attention of the reader should be drawn to the fact that the appearance of the surface of furniture made subsequent to this period begins to approach the results of the modern cabinetmaker with his polishes and spirit varnishes and highly glazed panels and table tops. The lover of old oak abominates varnish. The Elizabethan and Jacobean carved oak furniture received only a preliminary coat of dark varnish in its early days, mixed with oil and not spirit, which sank into the wood and was not a surface polish, and was probably used to preserve the wood. These old pieces, which have received centuries of rubbing with beeswax and oil, have resulted in producing a rich, warm tone which it is impossible to copy by any of the subtle arts known to the modern forger. The collector should make himself thoroughly familiar with the appearance of this old oak by a careful examination of museum pieces, which, when once seen, cannot easily be forgotten.

CHEST OF DRAWERS. PANELLED FRONT; LATE JACOBEAN.

(Height, 3 ft. 4 in.; width, 3 ft. 10 in.; depth, 1 ft. 10 in.)]

The Italian Renaissance furniture probably received an oil varnish, the composition of which, like the varnish employed for old violins, has been lost, but after centuries of careful usage and polishing, the result, as seen in the fine specimens in the Victoria and Albert Museum, is to give to them the appearance of bronze.

CHARLES II. OAK CHAIR.

Open back carved with shell and scrolled foliage. Stuffed seat covered with old damask.]

There is little doubt that the Great Fire, which did such immense destruction in London in 1666, in which some eighty-nine churches and thirteen thousand houses were demolished, gave a considerable impetus to the manufacture of furniture in the new style. It is not a pleasing reflection to think how many fine pieces of Elizabethan and early Jacobean furniture were consumed in the flames, including much of Inigo Jones's work.

Under the genius of Sir Christopher Wren many of the city churches were rebuilt, including St. Paul's Cathedral; and Greenwich Hospital and Hampton Court were enlarged according to Wren's designs, with the co-operation of the master woodcarver, Grinling Gibbons. In later Jacobean days a splendour of style and an excellence of workmanship were the outcome of the fine achievements in interior woodwork by Grinling Gibbons and the school he founded.

The work of Grinling Gibbons consisted of most natural chains of flowers and foliage, fruit, or birds or cherubs' heads, all faithfully reproduced untrammelled by convention. St. Paul's Cathedral, Hampton Court, Chatsworth, and Petworth House all contain work by him of singular beauty. He trained many assistants to help him to carry on his work, and one of them, Selden, lost his life in endeavouring to save the carved room at Petworth from a destructive fire. The soft wood of the lime was his favourite for detailed carving; for church panelling or choir stalls, such as at St. Pauls, he employed oak; in his medallion portraits or figure work he preferred pear or close-grained boxwood.

CHARLES II. OPEN HIGH-BACK OAK CHAIR.

Finely carved legs and stretcher. Stuffed seat covered in old Spanish silk damask.]

The gradual development of the chair in the later Stuart days in the direction of upholstered seat will be noticed in the specimens which are given as illustrations. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 by Louis XIV. drove some thousands of French workmen--weavers, glass-workers, and cabinetmakers--to this country. The silk-weaving industry established by them at Spitalfields was one of the results, and silk stuffs and brocades were used for covering the seats and backs of furniture. At Hampton Court the crystal glass chandeliers were made by French workmen, whom Wren was glad to employ to assist him to make that palace a worthy rival to Versailles.

CHARLES II. CHAIR.

Cane back and seat, finely carved legs and stretcher.]

JAMES II. CHAIR.

With cane back and seat, and finely turned legs and stretcher.]

The chair here illustrated shows the commencement of the use of cane work in place of wood for the panel in back and for the seat. The James II. chair illustrated shows the later development of the cane-back. The William and Mary chair (illustrated p. 125) shows how the cane-back was retained later than the cane-seat, and how rich damask was employed for the upholstered seat. It is interesting to see how the stretcher, which in earlier days was of use to keep the feet raised from a wet or draughty floor, has now become capable of elaborate ornamentation. Genuine examples of chairs of Elizabethan and Early Stuart days show the wear of the feet of the sitters. The same wear is observable in the lower rail of old tables. In later Stuart days the stretcher has left its place at the bottom, between the two front legs. Since its use as a foot-rest, owing to carpeted floors, is gone, it is found either joining the legs diagonally, or higher up as an ornament with carved front. In the eighteenth century it has almost disappeared altogether.

WILLIAM AND MARY CHAIR.

Cane back. Seat upholstered in damask. Finely carved legs and stretcher.]

Mirrors began to take a prominent place in interior decoration. The house of Nell Gwynne in St. James's Square had one room entirely lined with glass mirrors. Hampton Court is full of mirrors, and they are arranged with considerable skill. By an artful arrangement the mirror in the King's Writing Closet is placed at such an angle that the reflection of the whole suite of rooms may be seen in it. The looking glasses made in this country in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries were the work of Venetian and French workmen. The plates had a bevel of an inch in width, and these bevels followed the shape of the frame, whether square or oval. A factory was established near Battersea which produced some fine work of this nature. It will be noticed by the collector who is observant that the bevels differ considerably from modern bevels. The angle is not such an acute one, and sometimes the edges are double bevelled. Many of the mirrors of the time of William and Mary had an ornamented border of blue glass. Sometimes the mirror was painted with festoons of flowers and with birds in French manner. In imitation of Italian style the back of the mirror, in examples a little later, was worked upon in the style of intaglio, or gem cutting, this presenting a dull silver surface when seen from the front.

In picture frames, in chimneypieces, or in mirror frames the school of Grinling Gibbons was still pre-eminent in carving. Now and again are found traces of Italian or Louis XIV. influence, but as a whole the English carver held his own, and the traditions of Grinling Gibbons were maintained, and he did not easily allow himself to be carried away by foreign elaborations.

When William of Orange came over in 1688 he brought with him many of his own countrymen as military and civil advisers, and in their train came artists and craftsmen, who introduced Dutch art into England, and prepared the way for the more homely style of Queen Anne. Walnut cabinets inlaid with various woods, and with ivory squares representing miniature Dutch courtyards in the recesses of cabinets, had found their way into England. With the period of William and Mary the cabriole leg in chairs and in tables became popular--at first an English adaptation of Dutch models--but later to develop into the glorious creations of the age of walnut.

Blue delft jars and bowls, some especially made for William and Mary and bearing the Royal arms and the cypher "W. M. R." and the Nassau motto, "_Je main tien-dray_," still to be seen in the Queen's Gallery at Hampton Court, were introduced, and it became fashionable to collect china. Consequently the furniture in rooms had to be adapted for the arrangement of this new class of ornament, and cabinets were largely made with accommodation to receive vases and beakers and blue bowls on their shelves. The earlier form have straight sides; but later, especially in the next reign, they follow French designs, and are swollen or _bombe_ at the sides.

PORTUGUESE. LATTER PART OF SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]

With William, too, came over the plain walnut card-table. Clock cases of the style termed "Grandfather" were of Dutch origin. The seats of chairs were shaped and removable. The Dutch trade with the East Indies had brought Oriental china and lac cabinets into Holland, and these, with the coming of William, found their way into this country. Bureaux with a number of secret recesses were introduced, and another Dutch importation from the East was the now celebrated chair or table leg with claw and ball foot. This came directly from China, and as in the case of delft, which is the earthenware replica by the Dutch potter of fine blue porcelain vases, from Nankin and Canton, where the Oriental perspective and design have been slavishly copied, so with the furniture, the old Chinese symbol of a dragon's foot holding a pearl, was repeated in the furniture by Dutch cabinetmakers. Dutch marquetry made an early appearance with simple ornamentation, sometimes enriched by ivory or mother-of-pearl inlay, but later it developed into flowing floral designs with figures, vases, fruit, butterflies, and elaborate scrolls in various coloured woods, of which yellow was the predominant colour.

RECENT SALE PRICES.[1]

L s. d.

Armchair, Charles II., oak, carved with cherubs supporting
crowns, and with turned column supports. Christie,
November 20, 1903 15 4 6

Chairs, pair, Charles II., oak, with cane seats and oval
cane panels in the backs, spirally turned legs,
stretchers and rails at the back. Christie, March 4,
1904 63 0 0

Armchair, Charles II., oak, with high back carved with
arabesque foliage, with lions' masks and claw legs.
Christie, March 29, 1904 63 0 0

Chairs, pair, nearly similar, carved with foliage. Christie,
March 29, 1904 39 18 0

Armchair, Charles II., walnut-wood, of Italian design,
carved with masks, cane seat and panel in back; and
cushion, covered with old Flemish tapestry. Christie,
March 4, 1904 77 14 0

Chairs, three, Charles II., oak, with oval panels of
canework in the backs, the borders carved with foliage,
flowers, and Amorini, and surmounted by busts. Christie,
April 12, 1904 42 0 0

Chairs, set of twelve, Charles II., of chestnut-wood, with
high backs carved with rosette ornaments, scroll
foliage, and formal blossoms, on cabriole legs carved
with flowers and shaped stretchers. Christie, July 1,
1904 462 0 0

Chairs, pair of chestnut-wood, with high backs slightly
curved, pierced and carved at the top, and each inlaid
with two cane panels, on carved cabriole legs and shaped
stretchers, _temp._ James II. Christie, June 2,
1904 36 15 0

Cabinet, English marquetry, with folding doors, enclosing
twelve drawers and small cupboard, and with four drawers
below, the whole elaborately inlaid with vases of
tulips, roses, and other flowers, small figures, birds,
and insects, on a walnut-wood ground, 69 in. high, 47
in. wide, _temp._ William III. Christie, February 12,
1904 105 0 0

Mirror, in case of old English marquetry, inlaid with large
flowers and foliage in coloured woods and ivory on
walnut-wood ground, 32 in. by 28 in., _temp._ William
III. Christie, February 19, 1904 43 3 0

Chairs, set of six, walnut-wood, with high, open backs,
carved with foliage, the centre inlaid in marquetry, on
carved cabriole legs and eagles' claw-and-ball feet,
_temp._ William and Mary. Christie, June 2, 1904 315 0 0

Chairs, set of four, of similar form, open backs, carved
with shell, and gadroon ornament, and on carved cabriole
legs with hoof feet, the stretcher carved with a shell,
_temp._ William and Mary. Christie, June 2, 1904 105 0 0

Cabinet, William and Mary, marquetry, veneered with
walnut-wood, decorated with oval and shaped panels,
inlaid, upon ebony field, 42 in. wide. Christie, March
18, 1904 65 2 0

Cabinet on stand, ebony, Dutch, seventeenth century,
supported by six beaded columns with stage under and
mirror panels at back, the upper part composed of doors
carved in medallions; the centre doors enclose an
architectural hall, inlaid in ivory, &c., with gilt
columns and mirror panels, and fitted with secret
drawers, 5 ft. 3 in. wide, 6 ft. 6 in. high and 22 in.
deep. Jenner & Dell, Brighton, May 3, 1904 100 0 0

Corner cupboard, Dutch marquetry, 8 ft. high, having carved
crown-shaped cornice, with centre vase, four doors, with
bow fronts, inlaid with flowers and carved raised
beadings, the interior fitted. C. W. Provis & Son,
Manchester, May 9, 1904 32 0 0

Table, Dutch marquetry, with shaped front and two drawers
inlaid with sprays of flowers in coloured woods and
ivory, on cabriole legs, 32 in. wide. Christie, March 4,
1904 37 16 0

[1] By the kindness of the proprietors of the _Connoisseur_ these items are given from their useful monthly publication, _Auction Sale Prices_.

V

QUEEN ANNE STYLE

QUEEN ANNE OAK SETTLE.

Scrolled arms, panelled back and loose cushioned seat. Width 6 feet.]

V

QUEEN ANNE STYLE

Anne 1702-1714.

1707. Act of Union between England and Scotland. First United
Parliament of Great Britain met.

1713. The National Debt had risen to L38,000,000.

With the age of Queen Anne domestic furniture departed from the ornate characteristics which had marked previous epochs. The tendency in English furniture seems to have made towards comfort and homeliness. The English home may not have contained so many articles of luxury then as does the modern house with its artistic embellishments, and a popular taste rapidly ripening into a genuine love of the fine arts. "A modern shopkeeper's house," says Lord Macaulay, "is as well furnished as the house of a considerable merchant in Anne's reign." It is very doubtful whether this statement holds good with regard to the days of Elizabeth or the days of the early Stuarts, but there certainly seems to have been in the dawn of the walnut period a curtailment of luxurious effects that might well tempt a casual observer to generalise in the belief that the days of Anne spelt dulness in art.

The settle, the illustration of which is given (p. 149), bearing the date 1705, the year after Blenheim, shows that Jacobean models of early days were not forgotten. The inlaid borders are very effective, and there is nothing vulgar or offensive in the carving. It is simple in style and the joinery is good. A walnut mirror, carved and gilded (illustrated p. 137), exhibits the same solidity. There is nothing to show that the glorious age of Louis XIV. had produced the most sumptuous and richly decorated furniture the modern world had seen. The simplicity of this carved mirror frame is as though art had begun and ended in England, and probably it is this insularity of the furniture of this period, and the almost stubborn neglect of the important movements going on in France that makes the Queen Anne style of peculiar interest.

QUEEN ANNE MIRROR FRAME.

WALNUT, CARVED AND GILDED.]

The oak desk illustrated (p. 139), dated 1696, is similar to the one at Abbotsford, in which Sir Walter Scott mislaid his manuscript of "Waverley," where it lay among his fishing-tackle for eleven years.

Another piece of the same period is the cupboard with carved doors and drawers beneath (illustrated p. 140).

WITH INITIALS "L. G." AND DATED 1696.

(_From the collection of T. E. Price Stretche, Esq._)]

Some pretty effects were now obtained by veneering, which was largely coming into practice. The pieces with the burr-walnut panels, marked in a series of knot-like rings, are especially sought after. This pattern was obtained from the gnarled roots of the walnut-tree, and applied in a decorative manner with excellent result.

OAK CUPBOARD. SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

Metal handles of drawers, eighteenth century.

(Height 6 ft. 7 in.; width, 4 ft. 6 in.)]

Cabinet closed; showing fine mottled figure of burr walnut.

Cabinet open; showing drop-down front and nest of drawers.

QUEEN ANNE WALNUT CABINET.]

_By permission of Messrs. Hampton & Sons._]

_By permission of Messrs. Waring._]

In the fine cabinet, the illustration of which is given (p. 141), the style is typical of this period. The panels of the doors are of exquisite finish, and show a beautiful walnut grain of peculiarly-pleasing mottled appearance, and the mellow effect which time has given to this specimen cannot be imitated with any degree of success in modern replicas. In the illustration showing this piece when open, the rich effect of the walnut in the middle panel may be noticed; the contemporary brass handles to the nest of drawers are typical of this style.

In chairs and in tables the elegant cabriole and colt's-foot legs were now commonly adopted, and apparently, simple as is the construction, it is only when Queen Anne pieces come to be repaired that it is found how expensive an undertaking it is, owing to their ingenious construction and the patient labour that was expended upon them, to produce unpretentious and harmonious effects.

The assertively English spirit which was the dominant note of the furniture of the early eighteenth century continued up till the early years of the reign of George II. During this period, which covers half a century, walnut was the wood mostly used in the manufacture of furniture, and this walnut period shows a quiet dignity of style and a simple proportion, reticently elegant and inornate without being severe.

The Queen Anne oak settle, with shaped panelled back and scroll arms, which appears as the headpiece to this chapter, is especially representative of the kind of piece in common use at the time; oak was still employed in furniture of this nature. The legs show the newer design, which was already departing from the elegant turning of earlier Jacobean days.

In the Queen Anne chair which is illustrated in the group of chairs of this period (p. 143), with open back and carved scroll foliage, the cabriole legs are finely carved with lion masks and acanthus leaf ornament, on lion's claw-and-ball feet. The seat is removable, and is stuffed. Queen Anne chairs had high carved or plain splat backs. The armchair in the same group shows this type of back. The Dutch shell-pattern often appears either on back or at the juncture of the leg with the seat. Chairs decorated in marquetry, in Dutch fashion, were in use at this period. The one illustrated with the two above-mentioned chairs is inlaid with birds and flowers, and the legs are cabriole. The seat follows the growing usage of being loose and stuffed.

Dutch marquetry cabinets on stands, with straight uprights, were imported and became a feature in the early eighteenth century drawing-room (see illustration, p. 147). The earlier forms had straight sides, but later, as the fashion grew, bureaux and large cabinets, with the dimensions of a modern wardrobe, had taken their place, with _bombe_ or swelled sides, and profusely decorated in marquetry, with vases and tulips and unnamed flowers of the cabinetmaker's invention, birds, butterflies, and elaborate scrollwork, in which ivory and mother-of-pearl were often employed as an inlay.

The stands on which the smaller cabinets stood were turned with the spiral leg of Jacobean days, and later they have the cabriole leg, with ball-and-claw or club feet. Cabinets and stands are frequently found together, in which the one is much earlier than the other.

DUTCH MARQUETRY CABINET.

Fitted with shelves. Door richly inlaid with flowers and scrolled foliage. On stand with turned legs and stretcher.]

Rich damask began to be used in the furnishing of hangings, and in some of the palatial furniture of the period the looms of Spitalfields produced the coverings. In Queen Anne's bedroom the hangings were of rich silk velvet.

Clocks of the variety termed "Grandfather," either with fine walnut cases or inlaid with marquetry, came into more general use in the days of Queen Anne. An elaboration of carving on grandfather clock cases as a rule is to be regarded with suspicion. Plain panels are not so saleable as carved ones; the want is supplied, and many fine old clock cases are spoiled by having the touch of a modern hand. The clock illustrated is an untouched specimen. The walnut case is a fine example of Queen Anne marquetry work. The works are by Sam Barrow, Hermitage Bridge, London. The steel dial is richly mounted with cupids, masks, and scrolls in chased brass.

QUEEN ANNE CLOCK.

Walnut case with marquetry work.]

Towards the middle of the eighteenth century and later, cabinets of Dutch importation, and Japanese or Chinese in origin, were extensively in use. In smaller numbers they had, without doubt, in the days of William and Mary, been introduced, but it was not until the commerce with the East had been well established that they became popular. In the cabinet illustrated (p. 150) the cabinet-work is English, the drawers are all dovetailed in the English manner, but the lacquered doors come from the East. It is an especially interesting example, as the pagoda-like superstructure is not often found complete.

QUEEN ANNE OAK SETTLE. DATED 1705.

With borders in marquetry.

(Width, 5 ft.)]

OLD LAC CABINET.

ENGLISH; EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.]

Lacquered boxes had been sent home from the East by English, French, and Dutch merchants, for many years, and with characteristic ingenuity the French cabinetmakers had employed these as panels for their furniture, but the supply not being sufficient they had attempted a lacquer of their own, which is dealt with in a subsequent chapter on Louis XIV. furniture. Dutch lacquer-work was a similar attempt on the part of the craftsman of Holland to equal the Oriental originals.

(Height, 2 ft. 5 in.; width, 2 ft. 8-1/2 in.; depth, 1 ft. 6-1/2 in.; height of stand, 2 ft. 9 in.)

(_From the collection of W. G. Honey, Esq., Cork._)]

FRONT OF LAC CABINET (ILLUSTRATED), WITH DOORS CLOSED.]

In the early eighteenth century the English craftsman tried his skill at lacquered furniture, it is true not with very successful results, but it is interesting to see what he has left as attempts. The illustration (p. 143) of a chair in black and gold lac is of English manufacture. The splat back and the cabriole leg give the date, and the specimen is a noteworthy example. Another piece of the first half of the eighteenth century period is the lac cabinet illustrated (p. 151). The metal hinges and corners of this are of chased brass and of English or Dutch workmanship. The shape and design of the drawer handles are frequently found in nests of drawers of this period, and there was a singular fondness shown at this time for numbers of small drawers and pigeon-holes in furniture. The now familiar bureau with bookcase above, and drop-down, sloping front covering drawers and recesses, dates from this time. The escutcheon of the lac cabinet is illustrated in detail as a tailpiece to this chapter to show the particular style of work found on the locks and hinges and drawer-handles of pieces of this nature. As has been said before, it is especially useful to the collector to make himself thoroughly familiar with these details of the various periods.

It may be readily imagined that at a time when cards were the passion of everybody in society, the card-table became a necessary piece of furniture in eighteenth-century days, just before the dawn of the great age of mahogany, when Chippendale, and the school that followed him, eagerly worked in the wood which Raleigh discovered. They produced countless forms, both original and adapted from the French, which have enriched the _repertoire_ of the cabinetmaker and which have brought fame to the man whose designs added lustre to the reputation of English furniture.

RECENT SALE PRICES.[1]

L s. d.
Chairs, six, mahogany, single, and one armchair to match,
with shaped legs and openwork backs (early eighteenth
century). F. W. Kidd, & Neale & Son, Nottingham,
November 11, 1903 25 4 0

Chairs, eight Queen Anne, walnut-wood, with high backs, on
slightly cabriole legs, with stretchers. Christie,
December 11, 1903 33 12 0

Armchair, Queen Anne, large walnut-wood, carved with
foliage, the arms terminating in masks, on carved
cabriole legs and lion's-claw feet. Christie, March 29,
1904 50 8 0

Cabinet, Queen Anne, the lower part fitted with escritoire,
the upper part with numerous drawers, shaped cornice
above, 3 ft. 6 in. by 7 ft. 6 in. Puttick & Simpson,
April 12, 1904 34 0 0

Chairs, four Queen Anne, walnut-wood, with interlaced backs
carved with rosettes and a shell at the top, on cabriole
legs carved with shells and foliage; and a pair of
chairs made to match. Christie, July 8, 1904 44 2 0

[1] By the kindness of the proprietors of the _Connoisseur_, these items are given from their useful monthly publication, _Auction Sale Prices_.

CHASED BRASS ESCUTCHEON OF LAC CABINET (ILLUSTRATED).

(Width, 10-1/2 in.)]

VI

FRENCH FURNITURE.

THE PERIOD OF

LOUIS XIV

CASSETTE. FRENCH; SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

Containing many secret drawers.]

VI

FRENCH FURNITURE. THE PERIOD OF LOUIS XIV

LOUIS XIV. (1643-1715), covering English periods of Civil War,
Commonwealth, Charles II., James II., William and Mary, and
Anne.

1619-1683. Colbert, Minister of Finance and patron of the arts.

1661-1687. Versailles built.

1662. Gobelins Tapestry Works started by Colbert; Le Brun first
director (1662-1690).

1664. Royal Academy of Painting, Architecture, and Sculpture
founded by Colbert, to which designs of furniture were admitted.

In order to arrive at a sense of proportion as to the value of English furniture and its relation to contemporary art in Europe, it is necessary to pass under hasty examination the movements that were taking place in France in the creation of a new style in furniture under the impulses of the epoch of the _Grande Monarque_. To estimate more correctly the styles of the Early Jacobean and of the later English furniture extending to the days of Chippendale and Sheraton, it must be borne in mind that England was not always so insular in art as the days of Queen Anne would seem to indicate. It is impossible for the cabinetmakers and the craftsmen to have utterly ignored the splendours of France. Louis XIV. had a long and eventful reign, which extended from the days when Charles I. was marshalling his forces to engage in civil war with the Parliament down to the closing years of Queen Anne. During his minority it cannot be said that Louis XIV. influenced art in furniture, but from 1661, contemporary with Charles II., when he assumed the despotic power that he exercised for half a century, his love of sumptuousness, and his personal supervision of the etiquette of a formal Court, in which no detail was omitted to surround royalty with magnificence, made him the patron of the fine arts, and gave his Court the most splendid prestige in Europe.

As a headpiece to this chapter we give a very fine example of a _cassette_, or strong box, of the time of Louis XIV. It is securely bound with metal bands of exquisite design. The interior is fitted with a number of secret drawers.

In the illustration (p. 159) it will be seen that the chair of the period of Louis Treize differed in no great respects from the furniture under the early Stuarts in this country. This design is by the celebrated Crispin de Passe, and the date is when Charles I. raised his standard at Nottingham, a year prior to the birth of Louis XIV.

DESIGNED BY CRISPIN DE PASSE, 1642.]

During the reign of Louis XIV., tables, armoires, and cabinets were designed on architectural principles. Under the guiding influence of Colbert, Minister of Finance, architects and cabinetmakers were selected to design furniture for the Tuileries, the Louvre, and Fontainebleau. In the early years of the reign furniture was made with severe lines, but gradually it became the practice to fashion larger pieces. Immense tables with sumptuous decoration, on gilded claw-feet, and having tops inlaid with _pietra-dura_ intended to carry bronze groups and porphyry vases, were made at the Gobelins factory, under the direction of the celebrated Le Brun. This artist loved grandeur and gorgeousness in decoration, and in accord with the personal ideas of Louis XIV., who had an inordinate love for perfect symmetry, huge pieces of furniture were built in magnificent manner to please the taste of the _Grande Monarque_. Men of genius were employed in the manufacture of tapestries, of furniture, and of metal mountings, and the interior decorations of the palaces were designed in harmony with the furniture intended for use therein.

The most illustrious among the cabinetmakers was Andre Charles Boule, who was made, in 1673, by letters patent, _Premier ebeniste de la maison royale_. The work of this artist in wood has attained a worldwide celebrity, and his name even has been corrupted into "buhl" to denote a particular class of work which he perfected. His most notable productions are the finely chased ormolu, in which he was an accomplished worker, and the inlay of tortoiseshell and brass, sometimes varied with ebony or silver, which have remained the wonder of succeeding generations.

Boule was born in 1642, and lived till 1732. The first Boule, termed "_Le Pere_," he was succeeded by no less than four sons and nephews of the same name, in addition to his pupils who carried on his traditions at the Boule _atelier_, and a crowd of later imitators, even up to the present day, have followed his style in lavish decoration without being possessed of his skill.

In Italy and in France marquetry of considerable delicacy and of fine effect had been produced long before the epoch of Louis XIV., but it was Boule who introduced a novelty into marquetry by his veneered work, which rapidly grew into favour till it developed into cruder colouring in inlays and unbridled licence in ornamentation, to which its originator would never have given countenance.

The pieces of furniture usually associated with him are massive structures of ebony with their surfaces covered with tortoiseshell, in which are inlaid arabesques, scrolls, and foliage in thin brass or other metal. Upon the surface of this metal inlay further ornamentation was chased with the burin. This alternation of tortoiseshell and brass forms a brilliant marquetry. Into the chased designs on the metal a black enamel was introduced to heighten the effect, which was further increased by portions of the wood beneath the semi-transparent tortoiseshell being coloured black or brown or red; sometimes a bluish-green was used. Later imitators, not content with the beautiful effect of tortoiseshell, used horn in parts, which is more transparent, and they did not fear the garish effect of blue or vermilion underneath. Boule's creations, set in massive mounts and adornments of masks and bas-reliefs, cast in gilt-bronze and chased, were pieces of furniture of unsurpassed magnificence, and especially designed for the mirrored splendours of the _salons_ of Versailles.

In boule-work all parts of the marquetry are held down by glue to the bed, usually of oak, the metal being occasionally fastened down by small brass pins, which are hammered flat and chased over so as to be imperceptible.

In order to economise the material, Boule, when his marquetry became in demand, employed a process which led to the use of the technical terms, _boule_ and _counter-boule_. The brass and the tortoiseshell were cut into thin sheets. A number of sheets of brass were clamped together with the same number of sheets of tortoiseshell. The design was then cut out, the result being that each sheet of tortoiseshell had a design cut out of it, into which the same design from one of the sheets of brass would exactly fit. Similarly each sheet of brass had a design cut out of it into which a corresponding piece of tortoiseshell would fit. That in which the ground is of tortoiseshell and the inlaid portion is brass, is considered the better, and is called _boule_, or the _premiere partie_. That in which the groundwork is brass and the design inlaid is of tortoiseshell, is called _counter-boule_ or _contre-partie_. This latter is used for side panels.

An examination of the specimens preserved in the Louvre, at the Jones Bequest at the Victoria and Albert Museum, or in the Wallace Collection will enable the student to see more readily how this practice works out in the finished result. In the illustration (p. 163) of the two pedestals the effect of the employment of _boule_ and _counter-boule_ is shown.

PEDESTALS SHOWING BOULE AND COUNTER-BOULE WORK.

(_Wallace Collection._)

(_a_) Boule or _premiere partie_.

(_b_) Counter-boule or _contre-partie_.]

Associated with Boule is Jean Berain, who had a fondness for the Italian style; his designs are more symmetrically correct, both in ornamental detail and in architectural proportion. His conceptions are remarkable for their fanciful elaboration, and their wealth of profuse scrollwork. In the French national collections at the Louvre, at Versailles, and elsewhere there are many beautiful examples of his chandeliers of magnificent carved and gilded work. The freedom of the spiral arms and complex coils he introduced into his candelabra have never been equalled as harmonious portions of a grandly conceived scheme of magnificent interior decoration, to which, in the days of Louis XIV., so much artistic talent was devoted.

Valued at nearly L15,000.

_Jones Bequest._

(_Victoria and Albert Museum._)]

With regard to the value of some of the specimens in the national collections, it is difficult to form an estimate. The Boule cabinet, probably designed by Berain, executed by Boule for Louis XIV. (illustrated p. 165) would, if put up for sale at Christie's, probably fetch L15,000. This piece is held to be grander in style than any in the galleries in France. At the Wallace Collection there are examples which would bring fabulous sums if sold. A cabinet by Boule, in the Jones Bequest, purchased by Mr. Jones for L3,000 in 1881, is now worth three times that sum.

Upon the building, decorating, and furnishing of Versailles Louis XIV. spent over five hundred million francs, in addition to which there was the army of workmen liable to statute labour. Some twenty thousand men and six thousand horses were employed in 1684 at the different parts of the chateau and park. In May, 1685, there were no less than thirty-six thousand employed.

The illustrious craftsmen who were employed upon the magnificent artistic interior decorations have transmitted their names to posterity. Berain, Lepautre, Henri de Gissey, are the best known of the designers. Among the painters are the names of Audran, Baptiste, Jouvenet, Mignard, and the best known of the sculptors are Coustou and Van Cleve. Of the woodcarvers, metal-chasers, locksmiths, and gilders Pierre Taupin, Ambroise Duval, Delobel, and Goy are names of specialists in their own craft who transformed Versailles from a royal hunting-box into one of the most splendid palaces in Europe.

RECENT SALE PRICES.[1]

L s. d.
Commode, Louis XIV., of inlaid king-wood, with two drawers,
mounted with handles and masks at the corners of chased
ormolu, and surmounted by a fleur violette marble slab,
52 in. wide. Christie, January 22, 1904 31 10 0

Show-cabinet, of Louis XIV. design, inlaid king-wood, with
glazed folding doors, ormolu mounts, chased and
surmounted by vases, 73 in. high, 46 in. wide. Christie,
April 12, 1904 30 9 0

Casket, Louis XIV., black Boule, inlaid with Cupids, vases
of flowers and scrolls, and fitted with four
tortoiseshell and gold picque shell-shaped snuff boxes.
Christie, April 19, 1904 73 10 0

Commode, Louis XIV., Boule, of sarcophagus form, containing
two drawers, at either corners are detached cabriole
legs, the various panels are inlaid with brass and
tortoiseshell, the whole is mounted with ormolu,
surmounted by a slab of veined marble, 49 in. wide.
Christie, May 27, 1904 57 15 0

[1] By the kindness of the proprietors of the _Connoisseur_, these items are reproduced from their useful monthly publication, _Auction Sale Prices_.

VII

FRENCH FURNITURE. THE PERIOD OF LOUIS XV

COMMODE, BY CRESSENT.

(From a drawing by Walter Eassie.)

(_Wallace Collection._)]

VII

FRENCH FURNITURE. THE PERIOD OF LOUIS XV

Louis XV. 1715-1774

Petit Trianon built at Versailles.

Meissonier, Director of Royal Factories (1723-1774).

Watteau (1684-1721). Pater (1695-1736).

Lancret (1690-1743). Boucher (1704-1770).

1751. The leading ebenistes compelled to stamp their work with
their names.

Louis XIV. died in the year following the death of Queen Anne, so that it will be readily seen that English art was uninfluenced by France in the days of William and Mary, and how insular it had become under Anne. The English craftsman was not fired by new impulses from France during such an outburst of decorative splendour. The reign of Louis XV. extends from George I. down to the eleventh year of the reign of George III., which year saw the cargoes of tea flung into Boston harbour and the beginning of the war with America.

In glancing at the Louis Quinze style it will be observed how readily it departed from the studied magnificence of Louis XIV. In attempting elegance of construction and the elimination of much that was massive and cumbersome in the former style, it developed in its later days into meaningless ornament and trivial construction. At first it possessed considerable grace, but towards the end of the reign the designs ran riot in rococo details, displaying incongruous decoration.

It was the age of the elegant boudoir, and the bedroom became a place for more intimate guests than those received in the large reception-room. In the days of Louis XIV. the bed was a massive structure, but in the succeeding reign it became an elegant appendage to a room. At Versailles the splendid galleries of magnificent proportion were transformed by the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France (1715-1723) during the king's minority, into smaller _salons_ covered in wainscoting, painted white and ornamented with gilded statues. In like manner the Louis Quinze decorations were ruthlessly destroyed by Louis-Philippe.

LOUIS XV. PARQUETERY COMMODE.

With chased and bronze-gilt mounts.

(_Formerly in the Hamilton Palace Collection._)]

BY CAFFIERI.]

The commode in the Wallace Collection (illustrated p. 171) is of the time when Louis XV. was in his minority, and of the days of the Regency. It is by Charles Cressent (1685-1768), who was cabinetmaker to Philippe d'Orleans, Regent of France. This is an especially typical specimen of the class to which it belongs as showing the transition style between Louis XIV. and the succeeding reign.

To establish Louis the Fifteenth's _petits appartements_ the gallery painted by Mignard was demolished, and later, in 1752, the Ambassadors' Staircase was destroyed, the masterpiece of the architects Levau and Dorbay, and the marvel of Louis the Fourteenth's Versailles.

It is necessary to bear these facts in mind in order to see how a new French monarch set ruthlessly new fashions in furniture and created a taste for his personal style in art. In the first part of the Louis Quinze period the metal mountings by Caffieri and Cressent are of exquisite style; they are always of excellent workmanship, but later they betrayed the tendency of the time for fantastic curves, which had affected the furniture to such an extent that no straight lines were employed, and the sides of commodes and other pieces were swelled into unwieldy proportions, and instead of symmetrical and harmonious results the florid style, known as the "rococo," choked all that was beautiful in design. Meissonier, Director of the Royal Factories (1723-1774), was mainly responsible for this unnatural development. He revelled in elaborate combinations of shellwork and impossible foliage.

In the Louis XV. commodes illustrated (pp. 173, 175) it will be seen how far superior is the design and treatment of the one which was formerly in the celebrated Hamilton Collection. Its chased and gilt mounts are harmoniously arranged, and though the ornamentation is superbly rich, it breaks no canons of art by overloaded detail or coarse profusion. Not so much can be said for the other commode of the rococo style, even though the mounts be by Caffieri and executed in masterly manner. There is a wanton abandonment and an offensive tone in the florid treatment which point clearly to the decline of taste in art.